Brian Banks attempts to make a tackle in an Aug. 8 preseason game vs. the Bengals. / Dale Zanine, USA TODAY Sports

by Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports

by Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports

Brian Banks' long road to the NFL won't lead to the Atlanta Falcons' roster in Week 1.

The Falcons waived him Friday.

Banks, 28, lost 10 years of his football prime to a wrongful rape conviction. He was exonerated last year after he and a private investigator secretly taped his accuser, former classmate Wanetta Gibson, recanting her accusation.

But making up for a decade away from the game isn't easy. Banks played last year with the Las Vegas Locomotives in the United Football League and signed a three-year minimum contract with the Falcons in March.

"Regardless of what you go through, it's up to you for what you do from there," Banks told USA TODAY Sports recently. "I chose to move forward. I definitely want to give positive, motivational inspiration. In return, I get it from others."

In addition to Banks, the Falcons released 10 other players Friday, and placed two, quarterback Sean Renfree and tight end Andrew Szczerba, on injured reserve. Renfree was a seventh-round pick this year out of Duke. He suffered a shoulder injury in Thursday's preseason finale against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Among the cuts were safety Charles Mitchell, a sixth-round pick in 2012 who played in 10 games last year, and cornerback Terrance Johnson.